


Calm Before the S.T.O.R.M.

by sarahsharpe1231



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: F/M, Killer Frost Origin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-18
Updated: 2015-05-18
Packaged: 2018-03-31 05:22:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,571
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3965938
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sarahsharpe1231/pseuds/sarahsharpe1231
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ronnie just found out that the great Harrison Wells wasn't the man he thought he was. Immediately, he starts looking for answers. Post-1x22.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Aftermath

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to the intense fangirling that happens when your OTP is about to get married!!! :D
> 
> I love Ronnie and am so excited that he's back for the final episode! However, I feel like these conversations, as imperative as they may be, won't be happening in "Fast Enough", so I wrote them for you! :)
> 
> This fanfic takes place about half an hour after Barry, Ronnie, and Oliver defeat the Reverse Flash. Hope you guys enjoy it!
> 
> (Disclaimer: One thing that isn't making sense to me is why, if the particle accelerator is active and online, that's where Barry puts Thawne, as seen in the clip from tomorrow's episode. Isn't that why they attempted to move the metahumans? The thing's gonna blow again? I don't know! I'm hoping it's explained tomorrow! For now, I'm just rolling with it!)

Ronnie ran into the cortex and saw his fiancée's beautiful copper hair flowing down the chair in front of him. She was watching live footage of the pipeline on the computer screen. Suddenly, she turned around and met Ronnie’s eyes.

“Ronnie,” Caitlin said and stood up.

Ronnie wrapped his arms around her.

“Hey, Cait,” he said, closing his eyes, cherishing the first time he’s had her in his arms in three months.

“I’m so glad you’re okay,” she said, pulling away and reaching for his hands.

“You, too,” he said and leaned in for a kiss.

“It’s good to see you again, Ronnie,” Joe said, strolling out of the side workroom.

“You, too, Detective,” Ronnie said and walked over to shake Joe’s hand.

“Where’s Professor Stein?” Joe asked.

“Home, with Clarissa,” Ronnie answered. “Despite Barry calling us, we both really wanted to come home.”

Caitlin walked over to the two men and grabbed Ronnie’s hand once again.

“We wanted you both home, too,” Caitlin said and smiled at him.

“So,” Ronnie said, “how’s our good friend General Eiling?”

“Busy,” Cisco said as he walked into the cortex, “dealing with much...hairier problems.”

Ronnie and Caitlin turned around.

“Hey, man,” Ronnie said and gave Cisco a hug.

“Glad to have you back,” Cisco said.

“Glad to be back,” Ronnie responded.

They shared a smile, but were interrupted by Joe.

“So, how’s he doing in there?” Joe asked.

“Don’t worry,” Cisco said. “I set that cell up with _several_ power dampers. That means no vibrating, no running, no phasing. He’s not getting out of there for a _long_ time.”

 “Or ever,” Barry said as he sauntered into the cortex.

“Good,” Caitlin said.

“Ronnie,” Barry said, noticing his presence in the room, “thank you, man, for everything.”

“Don’t mention it,” Ronnie said.

Barry nodded his head.

“But, um, Cait and Cisco,” Ronnie said, “can I talk to you guys privately?”

“Sure,” Caitlin said and led the two of them into the treadmill room.

Barry and Joe looked at each other. It had been a long night and they both needed their sleep. They walked out of the cortex and began to head home. Eobard Thawne would be there and awake again in morning for Barry to have a long conversation with.


	2. Chain Reaction

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ronnie learns the truth and does not like what he hears. Everything just became so much more personal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What Ronnie brings up in this chapter has been floating around in my head since episode 3. It took a lot of strength and patience not to bring it up until now, but here it is. Like Barry and Caitlin said last week, the particle accelerator explosion made Barry The Flash...but that's not all it did. ;)

Ronnie sat down on the treadmill and Caitlin took a seat next to him. Cisco leaned up against the glass. Ronnie looked exhausted...or like he’d just seen a ghost...or both.

“Guys,” Ronnie said, “without any bias from Barry or anything, I need to hear it straight from you two. What the hell happened to Dr. Wells? I mean, did I really just _fight_ the guy?”

“Funny enough, that wasn’t Dr. Wells,” Caitlin said somberly. “We actually never even met him.” 

Caitlin looked down into her lap. She was obviously very distraught.

“What do you mean?” Ronnie asked.

“Dr. Harrison Wells died the night Tess did,” Cisco answered. “On that road in Starling City.”

“I don’t understand,” Ronnie said.

“The man you saw tonight,” Caitlin said, “his name is Eobard Thawne. He is a speedster from the future who...stole Harrison Wells’ identity and...killed him...15 years ago.” 

“So, that’s who we were working for?” Ronnie asked.

“Yeah,” Caitlin answered.

“I don’t get it,” Ronnie said. “What does he want?”

Caitlin flashed back to the conversation she and Eobard Thawne had outside of Clarissa and Professor Stein’s house and suddenly realized that she always knew what he wanted.

“To go home,” Caitlin said and looked up at Ronnie.

“Ronnie,” Cisco said, “this guy did...everything...he did--becoming Dr. Wells, building the particle accelerator, letting it explode--all so Barry could become The Flash, which, ironically, makes no sense at all because he also wants to kill him.”

Cisco took a seat on the treadmill next to Ronnie. They still didn’t know what Thawne’s endgame was...but Cisco also never wanted to find out. He was just happy knowing that the psycho that killed him was locked away for good.

“What about me?” Ronnie asked.

“What do you mean?” Caitlin responded.

“I mean, Barry Allen wasn’t the only person affected by that explosion,” Ronnie said. “Did he know he would also be creating...”

“Firestorm?” Cisco cut him off.

“Guys,” Ronnie said, “When he _allowed_ me to... _risk my life_ and run into the pipeline that night...do you think he knew what would happen to me? To Stein?”

Ronnie stood up and looked through the glass window into the cortex, his arms folded in front of him. He tried to calm his breathing.

“Caitlin,” Ronnie said, “that man took a year away from our lives. Were we part of his master plan...or just collateral damage?”

Ronnie turned around and stared into his fiancée’s eyes. He was searching them for some kind of answer.

“Ronnie,” Caitlin said, “you saved so many lives that day. Whether or not your destiny was sealed...you were a hero that night. And I couldn’t have loved you more for it.”

Ronnie looked down at the floor. He knew Caitlin was right, but his question was still eating at him.

“Cait,” Ronnie said, “I helped him build that machine. I was nothing more than a pawn in his silly little game.”

Ronnie looked back up at Caitlin and Cisco.

“I have to talk to him.”

 Ronnie started heading toward the door when Caitlin stood up and stopped him.

“Ronnie, no!” Caitlin said. “I don’t want him getting inside your head! Who knows what lies he’ll tell you.”

“Cait,” Ronnie said, “I’m used to people getting inside my head.”

He gave her an innocent smirk, opened the door, and made his way down to the pipeline. Cisco and Caitlin looked at each other and walked into the cortex. They sat down in their respective chairs and put the volume up on Caitlin’s computer. They needed to hear what the Reverse Flash had to say for himself.


	3. Endgame

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ronnie comes face-to-face with the man in the yellow suit, aka, the master of mind games.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know if you guys can tell, but I had A LOT of fun writing Eobard Thawne. He honestly loves hearing the sound of his own voice! It's great! XD
> 
> Word of advice: When you're reading Thawne's lines, think about how Tom's performed the role so far! You really need to hear his lines in his voice in order to get the full effect!
> 
> (Also, for those of you who saw the Barry/Thawne clip that was released today, there's a line at the end of this chapter that ties directly into the beginning of that scene. Look out for it!)
> 
> One more thing to remember while reading: Eobard Thawne had video cameras everywhere. ;)

Ronnie walked up to the monitor and placed his fingers on the screen, activating the biometric scanner. The door to the particle accelerator began to open. Standing in front of him was the man in yellow himself with an eerie grin on his face.

“Mr. Raymond,” Thawne said. “Always a pleasure.”

“Yeah, I used to be able to say the same thing,” Ronnie retorted.

“Fair enough,” Thawne responded.

“I have a question,” Ronnie said. “And I hope to get an honest answer out of you.”

“Ask away,” Thawne said.

 “December 11th, 2013,” Ronnie said. “The night Barry Allen became The Flash.”

 “That, he did,” Thawne said, grinning even bigger at the thought of his greatest achievement.

“I wasn’t supposed to be here that night,” Ronnie said, staring Thawne in the eyes, “but I was. Did you have anything to do with that?”

“I don’t understand,” Thawne said, folding his arms across his body.

“Cut the bullshit,” Ronnie said. “Did you or did you not know what would happen to me that night?”

Thawne chuckled. Ronnie wasn’t amused.

“I’m from the _future_...Mr. Raymond,” Thawne said. “What do you think?”

“You son of a...” Ronnie said and started toward the cell.

“Now, now, now, Mr. Raymond,” Thawne said. “Let’s not get heated.”

He chewed on that last word, which got Ronnie even more angry.

“I can’t believe I worked for you,” Ronnie said, shaking his head. “I can’t believe I _trusted_ you! Do you _know_ how much you took from me? All to create your precious Flash...”

“Mr. Raymond,” Thawne said, “you do realize that if I never hired you, you never would’ve met your beautiful fiancée.”

“Don’t bring Caitlin into this,” Ronnie said, clenching his fists.

“Oh, Ronnie,” Thawne said, flashing a sly smile, “Dr. Snow has been involved long before this machine bit the dust.” 

Thawne looked around at his cell.

“What are you talking about?” Ronnie asked, attempting to stay strong.

“You used to say that the two of you were ‘like fire and ice’, right?” Thawne asked. “Well, to quote Detective West, when the universe wants to make something happen...it sure as hell has a way of figuring those things out.”

Ronnie walked straight up to the cell, inches away from the man he once saw as a great mentor.

“I swear to god,” Ronnie said, “if you hurt her...”

“I can assure you, Mr. Raymond, that _I_ won’t be the one hurting _her_ ,” Thawne said.

“What the hell does that mean?” Ronnie asked.

“Just some advice...” Thawne said. “that, if I were you, I’d cherish her while I still have her. Till death do you two part, am I right?”

“Look,” Ronnie said, “I don’t know what type of game you’re playing here, but from what I can tell, you’re trapped in this cell, and I don’t see you getting out anytime soon.”

“We’ll see about that,” Thawne said.

It was full of double meaning, but Ronnie didn’t care. He just about had it with this man.

“Enjoy your stay,” Ronnie said and backed up.

He was about to close the door when Thawne caught his attention.

“One more thing, Mr. Raymond,” Thawne yelled.

“What?” Ronnie asked.

“Tell Mr. Allen to get me some Big Belly Burger,” Thawne said. “I’m famished.”

“No promises,” Ronnie said and shut the door in Thawne’s face.

He turned around and saw Caitlin standing in the hallway. She was terrified.

“Ronnie?” she asked as a tear came streaming down her face.


End file.
